Fender Twin Reverb vs Fender Hot Rod?

Jaxamillian · #1 12-04-2010, 06:30 PM

So I'm looking into getting a new amp and I've recently played through a Fender Hot Rod and loved it. I've also been recommended to check out Fender Twin Reverb, so I'm wondering if you guys could help compare the two, and talk about the pros and cons of each. Thanks guys.

ronmac · #2 12-04-2010, 07:44 PM

I am not an electric player, so I can't answer from that perspective.

Putting on my sound guy hat I can tell you that the majority of rider requests I get are for Twins and 65 Deluxe Reverbs (my favourite). I have never had a request for a Hot Rod, and I have had a few riders that stated "No Hot Rod models, please".

mutantrock · #3 12-04-2010, 07:53 PM

Really totally different amps. If you like the hot rod you will find the Twin different. The hot rod series leans more towards a Marshall sound because they use celestion speakers. The twin is old school fender sound. Both are good just depends what you love.
My amp is a Rivera Clubster and it is cool because one channel sounds like fender clean and the other like marshall crunch.

olrocker · #4 12-04-2010, 09:37 PM

I had a 65 Super Reverb, and that amp xxx. Sorry I ever sold it. My stepson has had a Twin for 20 years, and with all the venues he has played, he's NEVER cranked it up beyond 3. The Twin is the quintessential Fender sound and, if your looking for that, the Twin can't be beat. Do your push-ups...that puppy's HEAVY!!

BoB/335 · #5 12-05-2010, 12:31 AM

Original owner of a '68 Twin Reverb. Can't remember the last time I turned it on. You think a Twin is heavy??? Try lifting it with 2 EVM 12L's in it. I get it off the ground about 2" and put it down and then remember why I never pick it up anymore. (And I have a dolly monted on it) If you like the old clean fender sound look for a late 60's Pro Reverb. I have a '69 that's a keeper!!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile if you are going to get one of the "newer" Fenders the Hot Rod Deluxe is probably the best choice out of all the "Hot Rod" amps. Much more useable than a Twin IMO.

Herb Hunter · #6 12-05-2010, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mutantrock

Really totally different amps. If you like the hot rod you will find the Twin different. The hot rod series leans more towards a Marshall sound because they use celestion speakers. The twin is old school fender sound. Both are good just depends what you love.
My amp is a Rivera Clubster and it is cool because one channel sounds like fender clean and the other like marshall crunch.

I don't think all of the Hot Rod series amplifiers use Celestion speakers. The Hot Rod DeVille 410 III has Eminence speakers and the Blues Junior III has a 12" speaker with the Fender label (I'd guess that it is made by Eminence). Then there are the Reissue Hot Rods, the Blues Deluxe and Blues DeVille which continue to feature Eminence speakers.

Herb Hunter · #7 12-05-2010, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaxamillian

So I'm looking into getting a new amp and I've recently played through a Fender Hot Rod and loved it. I've also been recommended to check out Fender Twin Reverb, so I'm wondering if you guys could help compare the two, and talk about the pros and cons of each. Thanks guys.

I've owned both a Fender Twin Reverb '65 Reissue and a Hot Rod series Blues Deluxe at the same time. I love the Twin Reverb Reissue but having to choose between the two, I'd pick the Blues Deluxe because when using an electric guitar, I'd be more interested in a dirty sound and I could get that sound easier, and at lower volumes than I could with the Twin Reverb. If my playing emphasized clean tones, I'd choose the Twin Reverb.

I liked having both amps and would route one of my guitar's pickups to the Blues Deluxe and the other pickup to the Twin Reverb to achieve a sound I really liked. (My guitar had stereo wiring.)

Incidentally, the Fender Twin Reverb '65 Reissue is reported as being specified in B.B. King's rider as one of two amplifiers he is willing to use in his performances. I can't remember what the other amp on the rider was.

Bob Womack · #8 12-05-2010, 08:21 AM

Comparison?

The Hot Rod series is a modern, channel-switching amplifier series by Fender based upon a twin 6L6 tube amplifier. The clean channel is a modern take on the classic Fender clean sound. Not the same, but a go-to. The dirty channel is Fender's idea of a gained up channel and there is a final stage available to kick it up further. Both channels share a common EQ. Most users I've spoken too prefer to use pedals on the clean channel and ignore the dirty channel. The Hot Rod Deluxe has been Fender's most popular amp ever. The series is on its third major revamp.

The Fender Twin Reverb is the company's penultimate combo amp. Since about '64 it has been one of the most-used amps for stage and studio - a solid, reliable performer. It is based around a quartet 6L6 amp and two 12" speakers. It is known for its clean sound with gobs of headroom. In fact, you can't get it to distort until it is so loud that it will irradiate everyone in the general vicinity. Get a roadie. It is heavy.

Both the Hot Rods and the reissues of the Twin are built on circuit-board construction. Some have reservations about the sound, longevity, and reliability of circuit board built amps. I don't. The original Twins are turret-board wired. Many of the highly-desirable '60s era amps are aging enough that they aren't as robust as they once were unless they have been rebuilt. As others have mentioned, many touring musicians put one of two amps in their rider: the Twin Reverb or the Vox AC30. Most riders ask for a modern model, probably for reliability. I am another audio engineer who has never had a touring musician request a Hot Rod Series amp.

Use your ears: they are very different beasties.

Bob

Paddy5Strats · #9 12-05-2010, 09:30 AM

I had a Hot Rod for 10 years and gigged extensively with it. After several speaker changes and multiple sets of tubes I got rid of it and bought a 65 DRRI. The HR is engineered to be very bassy to fool the inexperienced ear into believing it has a fat full sound. The DRRI is not as bassy but it has a chime and vibe the HR can't touch. The HR'S midrange honk was also something I just couldn't take anymore.

Construction wise both have PCB's but the DRRI has chassis mounted tube sockets and beefier components, whereas the HR has PCB mounted sockets and cheap components. All the heat from the tubes in the HR gets absorbed into the PCB and eventually leads to damaged solder filaments.

To answer the OP's question though, the Twin is a much better amp but it is a bear to move around. You simply won't need that much amp for clubs,or anywhere really as you can mic a small amp. I wouldn't touch either if I were you. Take a serious look at the DRRI, and if you get one pop in a Tone Tubby speaker and you will have a much more musical low end than the HR could ever have.

zombywoof · #10 12-05-2010, 09:52 AM

I avoid any Fender amp with the "Hot Rod" in the moniker. The gain channel is useless and the clean while OK still lacks warmth. Virtually everybody I know who has stuck with them has done alot of mods to the amps. And they can weigh as much as a boat anchor.

So I vote for the Twin.

Have you tried out one of the Peavey Classic amps?

zombywoof · #11 12-05-2010, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mutantrock

My amp is a Rivera Clubster and it is cool because one channel sounds like fender clean and the other like marshall crunch.

Those and the Chubsters are great flippin' amps.

olrocker · #12 12-05-2010, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zombywoof

Those and the Chubsters are great flippin' amps.

ANY Rivera amp is flippin' awsome...if you can afford it. I got lucky. To comment on a previous post, today, I would go with a DRRI (deluxe reverb re-issue) or better yet, an original if you can find it (Neil Young owns 456 of them, maybe he'll sell you an extra) because you can get the crunch at lower volumes. You'll never get there with a stock wired Twin...too much headroom, although my son has done a simple mod to his (no re-wiring, just tube switching) so that he can get dirty at lower levels. PM me if you want specifics about how he did it. Can't remember right now, (Hence the olrocker moniker).

Robert H. · #13 12-05-2010, 01:25 PM

+1 on the DRRI. The Hot Rod series is, to my ear, more like the "tweed" sound overall, but not as beautiful as the real thing. The Twins to me are almost too clean, and loud & heavy! I bought a DRRI 2 1/2 years ago and spent a fair amount more to have Fargen Amplification add their "sustain mods"; would do it again in a heartbeat. Liked the sound so much, I picked up a used Silverface Princeton and had Fargen totally gut the thing and rebuild it as a "small Deluxe"; 12" speaker, 22 watts; great sounding and very easy amp to lug around. The DRRI isn't necessarily heavy, but it's sort of a wide, clumsy shape. (People have put new baffle boards in Deluxe amps to hold 2-10" speakers) Really depends on your style of playing, but for blues, classic rock and country I think the DRRI's are great. If the venue gets too big, mic the thing!

BoB/335 · #14 12-05-2010, 01:56 PM

I also think the DRRI is worth looking into.

Just checked ebay and there are a good amount of late 60's to early 70's Pro Reverbs. The Pro Reverb is the same physical size as the Twin with 2 - 12's but is much lighter transformers and speakers. Still gives a nice fat clean sound at 40 watts byt warmer than a Twin IMO.
btw I tried a DRRI a year before I found this gem of a Pro and it has a different sound than this Pro. Also I wouldn't think twice about buying an "old" Fender. Never had a problem with my '68 Twin, '69 Pro Reverb or my '69 Princeton Reverb.

zombywoof · #15 12-05-2010, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert H.

+1 on the DRRI. The Hot Rod series is, to my ear, more like the "tweed" sound overall, but not as beautiful as the real thing.

Having had a 1955 Fender Twin and HR Deville 212 at the same time I would say there was nothing similar about the way they sounded and responded. The narrow panel tweed amp has full-on mids with a warm bloom (courtesy of the tube rectifier). Very organic sounding overdrive but they can also be a bit hard to tame as they like to break up early. If the HR amps can be compared to any Fender amp I would think it would be the late 1970s Silverface master volume amps with the ultralinear output transformers meaning they are good for folks who want a alot of clean headroom and they take to pedals very well.